A Stolen Moment
by sg1cat
Summary: Daniel and Vala have a romantic encounter just at the beginning of Badguys, Season 10.  Thanks much to my friend Wendy for the idea.  Originally a oneshot, this will now be an ongoing story, slowly taking an AU turn from canon.
1. A Stolen Moment

Daniel was in his lab, leaning over his desk and studying an ancient piece of papyrus that SG-6 had brought back from P8K-457. He smiled slightly, sighing happily as he settled in and started the work to tease out the secrets from the faded writing scrawled across the pale, fragile surface. He had spent the past several hours pouring over Athena's research of the weapon that she had tried to find through Vala's damaged memories, and he was almost ready to call it a day.

Before he did, however, he had decided to treat himself and put the more important work aside, giving himself the luxury of looking at the rolled up scroll that SG-6 had left on his desk a week ago. The furled piece of papyrus had been sitting there since, teasing and taunting him with the mysteries that lay within. It was a welcome reprieve from the laborious work of cross-referencing the cartouche.

As the archaeologist began to lose himself in the translation, his mind falling into the gentle lull of linguistics, his concentration was shattered as a shadow fell over the parchment.

Before he even glanced up, the smell of perfume told Daniel who it was.

"Hello Vala," he said with a warm voice, pausing a moment before looking up to stare into her brilliantly blue eyes.

The raven-haired woman, leaning on the adjacent side of his lab bench, hesitated at his greeting. A faint look of surprise crossed her face as he greeted her before looking at her, a smile playing upon her lips as their eyes met. She looked into his gaze fondly, a look he returned with a patient smile.

"Hello Daniel," she said with a pleased voice, happily caught off guard by the warmth she heard in his words, savoring his attention as they looked at each other.

Several moments crept by without another word, causing Daniel to grin wryly. "What's up?" he finally asked, raising an eyebrow at her. The woman blinked as his words broke the spell, catching her off guard with the question.

"Oh, uhm," she began awkwardly, clearing her throat as she tried to get her wits about her. Daniel smiled all the more, remembering a time long ago when she would have irritated him by interrupting his work. Those days were long past, however. Now, he found her presence an even more welcome interlude than the paper he'd been studying - though he'd never admit it to her.

"I'd been meaning to stop by before," she said slowly as she glanced down, now suddenly unable to keep eye contact with the archaeologist. Daniel furrowed his brow at this, sensing an awkwardness in her that was rather uncharacteristic. She continued, "but something always seemed to come up." Clearing her throat she paused and tossed her head back up, meeting his gaze again. "Truth be told, I kept putting it off because, well," she sighed, "well it's not easy for me to do this."

Daniel stared at her with a bewildered expression, blinking a few times. "Uhm," he mouthed, hesitating. "Vala, I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about." Even as he said the words, he wondered inwardly if he really wanted to find out. The raven-haired woman looked a touched embarrassed as she realized she'd completely failed to explain to him what was on her mind. "What's not easy for you to do?" Daniel asked with a hesitant voice, increasingly nervous about her answer.

Smiling nervously, Vala forced a fake laugh. "Right," she said, looking down again. She paused a few moments before finally blurting out, "I came here to apologize to you, Daniel." As the words left her lips, she looked up again, watching him with an intent gaze. "I know it's been a while, and I should have probably said it before, but..." she sighed, "like I said, this isn't easy for me."

Her answer left him both relieved and even more confused than before, though a measure of apprehension remained. "Well," he started, hesitating once more, "I suppose that's good to hear, but I really don't know what you want to apologize to me for yet," he prompted in a gentle voice, now watching her with a curious eye. The woman's expression fell even more.

"Oh, I am just butchering this, aren't I?" she asked forlornly, looking at him with a pleading expression.

Daniel smiled warmly at her. He was glad to see his smile helped Vala to relax, if just a little bit. He stopped leaning on his desk and stood up straight, watching her as she mirrored his actions. "Look," he started, glancing over to the corner of his lab with the computers. "Just relax, and let's go sit down and talk about this." He glanced back over to her, raising his eyebrows with a questioning gaze.

Vala drew in a deep breath at his words, nodding silently. She followed him as he walked back and pulled up a chair for her, seating himself by the computer. He smiled warmly at her as she sat in front of him, regarding her with a gracious eye. "Okay," he began, watching as she tensed up again. "Why don't you start from the beginning, and just tell me what's on your mind?"

The raven-haired woman drew in another deep breath at his words, nodding yet again. Sighing heavily, she paused and looked down, gathering her thoughts. "What I was trying to say Daniel," she began slowly, looking back up at him as she continued, "was that I wanted to apologize to you for not believing you when you were a Prior." She watched him intently as she spoke, and he could sense her nervousness. "You were telling the truth the whole time and I didn't give you the benefit of the doubt." He saw her jaw clenching as she paused, amazed at what he was hearing and how it seemed to affect her. "You deserve better than that," she added, "especially after how much you've taken chances on me, believing in me when I really hadn't done anything to earn it." She sighed heavily as she finished speaking, watching him with a nervous eye.

The archaeologist blinked in surprise at her words, completely taken aback. He wasn't sure what he expected, but this wasn't it. He supposed he was expecting some early apology for her getting into trouble, getting him to forgive her before Landry chewed him out for something she'd done.

This caught him completely off guard, though. He had to sit silently for a moment or two and process it, watching her intently as he did. While the silence dragged on, Vala became more and more nervous, watching him with a wary eye.

Finally, Daniel smiled beatifically, watching her with amazement. Vala let out the breath she'd been holding, smiling in answer. "Vala, I can't tell you how much I appreciate that," he said, "but you really don't have to apologize for anything." She furrowed her brow at this, looking perplexed.

Chuckling, he explained with a shrug, "I understand where you were coming from. Given what was at stake, and given how well you understand Adria, I can't really blame you for being skeptical."

Vala smiled faintly at his words, watching him intently as he spoke. She looked down as her expression grew troubled, hesitating for a moment before answering, "That's very sweet of you to say Daniel, but that's exactly why I need to apologize to you." His eyebrows knitted together as her gaze came up to meet his again. "Ever since that day I've been second guessing myself - Was it because of what was at stake that I didn't believe you, or was it because Adria was involved?"

Daniel inclined his head as she spoke, his face becoming reflective. Seeing his reaction, Vala realized he hadn't considered that angle before. She almost regretted coming to him with it now. Almost.

"By refusing to believe you," she said painfully, forcing herself to keep eye contact with him, "I was saying that I didn't believe you could resist her attempts to sway you, that you weren't strong enough." Daniel's brows knitted together again, it amazed her that this seemed like a surprise to him. "But you deserve so much better than that, especially after everything you've done for me," she said with an emotional voice, her eyes searching his as she spoke. He didn't speak, but looked back into her eyes with a deeply thoughtful expression.

She drew in a deep breath, adding, "That's the other thing," she said with a nervous voice, smiling weakly, "I've never really said thank you for any of it, have I?" She paused, waiting for a moment. Seeing he wasn't ready to speak, she continued, "I mean, you were even sweet enough to take me out to dinner as a thank you of your own, when it really should have been me doing something just as nice to thank you for everything you've done for me." She stared into his eyes, worried beyond words. Again, silence.

She sighed, looking down. This was far more difficult than she'd thought. "In the time since that day, Daniel," she said, pausing gather up her courage again. "I've really been questioning whether my unwillingness to believe in you was simply jealous I was of Adria." She lifted her head, meeting his gaze once more. "Jealous that perhaps she'd managed to touch you on a level that I've been hoping to reach with you for a long time now."

The archaeologist blinked in shock at her words, completely speechless. His jaw hung slack. She looked at him with emotional eyes, clenching her jaw anxiously. Daniel found himself feeling surprisingly nervous as well, his heart racing as he slowly absorbed her words.

He opened his mouth to answer when suddenly Cam's voice from the doorway shattered the moment, "Hey, guys!" The two jumped in shock, both looking over with surprised expressions at the Colonel standing in the door. "You ready for the meeting tomorrow morning, Jackson?"

The two looked at him in silence, both still overwhelmed from the moment before and stunned by the sudden ending of it. Sensing the awkwardness, Cam asked hesitantly, "I, um..." he coughed, "I wasn't interrupting anything there, was I?"

Vala jumped up at his words, smiling brilliantly at him. "Not a worry Colonel," she said, "it's late and I should be heading to bed anyway." She walked briskly to the door, her anxiousness carrying her forward. She couldn't believe she'd just said all that to Daniel, she was sure now she'd made a mistake. "If I don't get a full night's rest, I'll be a wreck tomorrow. That just wouldn't do if we end up on a mission." She forced a grin as she walked past Mitchell. Pausing at the doorway, she looked back for the briefest of moments at Daniel. As she did, all traces of her happy facade vanished, her eyes showing him again how nervous and frightened she was. Then she was gone.

Daniel sat in his chair, staring at where she'd been in shocked silence. Cam looked on for a moment before he silently slinked away, his cheeks flushing as he felt like a damned fool for barging in as he had. He wasn't sure exactly what he'd interrupted, but he figured his timing couldn't have been worse.

* * *

All of SG-1 sat around the briefing room table, except for Sam. Daniel and Vala were on one side while Mitchell and Teal'c were on the other. Landry sat at the head of the table. The archaeologist had arrived first, hoping that Vala would show up early too. He was eager to talk to her about what she'd said last night. Unfortunately, she was not only the last to show up, but she was also ten minutes late. Daniel had no choice but to dive right into the meeting as soon as she seated herself.

"The Clava Thessara Infinitas," he opened up with elaborating, "The Key to Infinite Treasure. A cache of Ancient wealth and weapons."

Looking over at the archaeologist thoughtfully, Mitchell replied, "You do realize the last cache of Ancient stuff we picked up is what got us in trouble with the Ori in the first place."

"So what?" Daniel answered incredulously, "Just leave it out there for someone else to find?" Mitchell shrugged, nodding once in acknowledgment of Jackson's point.

Teal'c pointed out, "I thought you believed the Clava Thessara Infinitas to be a hoax, Daniel Jackson."

Nodding, he answered, "I did, yes, but the research Athena did is actually quite compelling. Now, after cross referencing her research and our cartouche, I was able to generate a gate address."

Looking intrigued, Mitchell said, "Possible location of the treasure."

"I'm not sure, but we sent a MALP to P4M-328, and the images it sent back are particularly interesting." Leafing through the papers in the open folder before him, Daniel pulled out some pictures. "Now, the hieroglyphs on the wall are all out of order and from various different dynasties. At first glance, they don't make any sense," he said as he started to hand the pictures to Landry when Vala interrupted, reaching for the photos.

"It's a code!" she said exuberantly, smiling brilliantly at him. The archaeologist paused, glancing back at her with a measure of irritation. He didn't say a word but pushed her hand away, proceeding to hand the images to Landry.

"Sounds like it's worth checking out," the General answered. "Go ahead."

Teal'c spoke up at this, "Should we not wait until Colonel Carter returns from Washington?"

"She's still there briefing the President on the scenario that played out in the alternate reality where the Stargate was made public," Landry responded.

Furrowing his brow, Mitchell commented, "Well that's taking longer than it was supposed to."

Daniel shrugged as he pointed out, "It could be a good way to examine what might happen here."

The General grinned at this, saying, "Sounds like President Hayes is having a hard time just getting past the fact that he wasn't President." With that, they all wordlessly got up and set about getting ready for their mission to P4M-328. Again, Daniel lingered a little, trying to discretely get Vala's attention. She was quick for the door, however, leaving without a word.

* * *

The columned room with the Stargate was dark and silent. Suddenly the stone ring came to life, each chevron lighting in turn until the last lit up and the wormhole connected with explosive force. The blue light from the wall of water shimmered within the circle, and within moments the four of SG-1 that were in the briefing stepped through the event horizon.

Four flashlights clicked on, the pale yellow beams of light casting about the room. Daniel spoke first, "Well, I'm gonna set up my camera and take some high-res stills of these glyphs." He walked over to one of the walls with hieroglyph panels, shining his light over it's surface, looking at it with a perplexed brow. At the same time, the others started to spread out, shining their own lights around, surveying the room silently.

After a few moments, Mitchell looked over at Vala, casting his light in her direction, "Give Ansel Adams there a hand. Teal'c and I'll check out the perimeter."

The woman pursed her lips at this, furrowing her brow. Given her disastrous attempt to apologize to him last night, being alone with him wasn't exactly what she wanted right now. "Right," she answered, slowly wandering over to the archaeologist. She began to mutter, "Well, I'm sure that's a very witty popular culture reference, but I..."

"He's a photographer best known for his black and white images of California's Yosemite Valley," Daniel answered flatly, meeting her gaze as she came to stand by him.

Vala watched Daniel with a reserved expression as he answered, forcing a smile as his words explained Cam's comments. "Oh!" she said in sudden comprehension, forcing a chuckle. She called after Cam with a fake laugh, "Ha, ha. Good one!"

Suddenly the two of them were alone in the room, which was even more dark now that the flashlights carried by Teal'c and Cam were gone with the two. Vala looked back at Daniel with a nervous stare, swallowing hard as she found him studying her intently instead of the hieroglyphs. She looked into his eyes in the shadowy light of their flashlights and knew there was no more escaping this. So, she decided to just tackle it head on. "Listen Daniel, about what I said last night," she began, only for the archaeologist to cut her off.

"I'm glad you brought it up, because I've been eager to talk to you about it," he started but she interrupted him in turn.

"Well, I'll make it easy for you," she answered quickly, her heart pounding in her throat. "You don't need to worry about any of it, I really shouldn't have said anything," she blurted out, hoping against hope that would be enough to put the matter to rest.

Daniel's expression quickly told her that was a foolish thought, however, as he looked at her with a slightly annoyed expression. She sighed, pursing her lips. "Well, it was worth a shot," she said quietly.

"Vala," he began, decided to cut to the heart of the matter, "what did you mean when you said you were jealous, that you wondered if Adria had managed to reach me in a way you'd wanted to for a long time?"

The raven-haired woman closed her eyes painfully as he spoke, trying to fight back the tears. Yes, this was exactly what she didn't want. "Daniel," she said in a trembling voice, "Please, just forget it, alright?"

He watched her in silence, stunned at the hurt he saw written across her face. Suddenly everything about her that annoyed him, everything he thought that he was afraid that kept him from getting to close to her vanished. Swallowing hard, he said simply, "Vala..."

Something in his voice made her open her eyes against her will. She looked up into his gaze with wet eyes, frustrated beyond belief. What she saw there confused her, the warmth in the look he gave her was not what she expected.

Suddenly he cupped her face in his hands, leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers. Vala drew in a sharp, surprised breath as he kissed her, every last thought vanishing from her mind as she felt his lips pressing against hers. Suddenly her eyelids became too heavy to keep open, slowly falling shut as she reached up, stopping just shy of touching his face as he kissed her insistently.

Even as he pressed his lips to hers, Daniel couldn't believe that he'd done it. Nonetheless, he gently stroked her cheeks with his hands and lovingly caressed her lips with his own. His tongue glided tenderly over her lips, which she immediately and thoughtlessly parted for him. He kissed her deeply, exploring her mouth sensuously as she moaned softly against him.

After a few moments, Vala regained her senses and began kissing back with a passion that grew with each breath she took. Her wavering hands reached up the rest of the way and she wrapped her arms about his neck, pressing her body against his. She finally met his tongue with her own, tenderly caressing him and smiling within the kiss as she heard him moan against her mouth. Daniel slid his hands down her body, wrapping his arms about her waist, pulling her even more tightly to him as they kissed passionately, the fire growing faster and faster.

Time lost all meaning for the two as a heady feeling came over both of them. In the back of his mind, Daniel couldn't believe what he was doing, but at the same time he knew it felt right. He pressed his lips to hers more firmly as he felt her respond, the eagerness of her lips and tongue clouding his mind and making him lose himself in her scent and in the feel of her body pressing against hers.

Vala couldn't have been happier, all of the fear and doubt that she'd been living with for the past twelve hours melting away. She kissed Daniel for all that she was worth, hungry for as much as he would give her. With every second that passed, she felt a growing yearning for him, and an irritated frustration as she remembered that this was neither the time or the place where she could have what she really wanted.

But right now, she didn't care. Instead, she ran her fingers through his hair, moaning loudly against his lips as her tongue wrestled playfully with his. Daniel squeezed her to him, sighing happily into the kiss, his lips caressing hers sweetly.

"Pack it up!" came Mitchell's yell as he rounded the corner, he and Teal'c stopping on their heels as they saw the two entangled with one another. "Woah!" he yelled in surprise, even as Teal'c regarded the two with wide eyes and an eyebrow that shot halfway up his forehead.

Daniel and Vala broke the kiss instantly, the archaeologist looking back over his shoulder with suddenly blushing cheeks and even Vala peering around from behind the man who held her with wide eyes and a scarlet countenance.

The four paused awkwardly as the seconds ticked by, none sure exactly what to say. "Ooookay," Mitchell began as he realized of the two in front of him, neither of whom had even started to release the other, neither were about to say anything. "Look, we'll talk about this later. Right now, we've got to get out of here. I'm pull the plug on this mission. This is not a tomb, it's a museum!"

"What?" Daniel asked in shock, sharing a stunned look with Vala. Both looked relieved that there was something to serve as a distraction from the very awkward moment that they'd just gone through. Nonetheless, the two were slow to pull apart. In spite of their circumstances, neither seemed willing to let the moment go.

As they stood apart, Daniel glanced over at the column that was right next to him and Vala. "Well, that would explain why the hieroglyphs were all jumbled," he said as he shone a light over its surface.

As he walked briskly past them to the DHD and started trying to dial, he added, "And there's a pretty big party going on next door, so"

"Right!" Daniel said, suddenly even more motivated to leave quickly. He knelt down, intending on packing up, when he realized with a wry grin that he'd never really unpacked. All his time had been spent lip-locking with Vala.

At Mitchell's words, Vala lit up, asking, "What kind of party?"

The Colonel paused in his efforts to dial the difficult symbols on the DHD at her words, turning his flashlight on her. "Don't you think you've had enough excitement for one day?" he asked dryly, casting his light over to Daniel, then back to her.

"Oh that?" she asked spiritedly, a wide grin covering her face. "We were just warming up," she said with a wicked voice, glancing down to see Daniel looking up at her with a surprised expression.

"Well, in either case," Cam continued, turning his attention back to the DHD, "This is the kind we do not invite ourselves to." As he spoke, he started tapping the buttons with increasing frustration as nothing seemed to be working. "This is a first contact situation. When a civilization reaches a certain level of development, we don't do those in person. We send the MALP to make contact and, if they are into the idea of extra-terrestrial visitors, then we get to go to the party, not before. Basic protocol."

By this time, he'd become both frustrated and worried at his fruitless attempts to work the DHD. Suddenly, one of the keys came loose in his hand. He picked it up and showed it to Daniel, the two sharing a worried glance. Walking around to the front of the unit, he bent down and too easily lifts it up, half of the plastic keys falling to the floor with a clatter. Mitchell dropped the unit and it landed with a hollow thud. The four exchanged amazed looks.

"Okay, this is not good," Cam said obviously, the lot of them suddenly forgetting the awkward circumstance from just a few moments ago.


	2. Chapter 2

The four members of SG-1 who had come to P4M-328 were all gathering around the false DHD. Vala was replacing the various fake keys that Mitchell had sent crashing to the floor minutes earlier. As she restored the last few, the Colonel spoke, "If they found a gate, they most likely found a DHD, no?"

Jackson answered briskly, "We didn't." In the few minutes since Cam and Teal'c had returned, the archaeologist had been thinking about the kiss he shared with Vala and the way they'd been discovered by their friends. While he was still reeling from the shock learning the DHD was a phony, he was also wrestling with the embarrasment of being discovered as they had been, and trying to understand why he kissed her in the first place.

In hindsight, Daniel wasn't sure why he had kissed Vala, and he was feeling very frustrated and confused about the whole affair. His whole gut was knotted up in aggravation.

Undaunted by the archaeologist's answer, Cam asked further, "Well they knew enough to build a pretty convincing replica, so they must have one lying around here somewhere, no?"

"No," Daniel replied with an irritated voice, "they could have just fabricated it from drawings," looking over at Mitchell with a flat stare.

The mood was becoming increasingly bleak, and Teal'c's next comment did nothing to help. "If indeed they did possess an authentic DHD, would they not display it near the authentic gate?"

The three men looked dour at the point, and Mitchell answered defeatedly, "Good point. Good point."

With a grim expression, Daniel said definitively, "We're stuck."

"No we're not," Vala said casually in a matter-of-fact voice as she replaced her last piece. She seemed completely oblivious to the mood of the three. Daniel looked over at her with an irritated expression.

Looking up from the DHD, she blinked in surprise as she saw his reaction and shrugged, elaborating,"Well, when we fail to make the scheduled check-in, General Landry will dial in, at which point we'll ask him to send a naquadah generator and a laptop with a dialing program and that's that!" She looked at him with an expression that clearly showed her surprise that she was the only one to realize such a blindingly apparent fact.

Looking surprised and flustered, Daniel started to answer, "We knew that!" Teal'c and Cam looked around uncomfortably as the archaeologist sputtered, feeling equally foolish for missing the obvious. Jackson added weakly, "I-I-I thought that when I said that we're stuck, that you would know that I meant 'until then'..."

Blinking at his words, Vala tilted her head as she looked at him with a disbelieving stare and said, "Well, then you should say what you mean."

Raising an eyebrow at her, he peered across the DHD at her. "I don't think you want me to start doing that," he said warningly.

Narrowing her eyes at him, Vala sensed the underlying tension in his words. Looking into his eyes, she guessed that their kiss was the ultimate cause, and suddenly felt very annoyed. She answered dangerously, "I don't think you want to start thinking what I think.

The archaeologist paused at her answer, the two staring tensely at each other for several seconds. "Anywho!" he finally said to break the silence, "FYI, we don't need the dialing computer. Worst case scenario, we can always dial the gate manually." Vala smirked at his desperate attempt to recover some of his authority as one of the most seasoned members of SG1.

Oblivious to her reaction, Mitchell responded, "Right, kick it rotary style. We still need a power source. What about the MALP?"

"No," Daniel said quickly.

"Seaweed," Cam countered.

"Don't go there," Daniel said warningly, frowning with a dour expression.

Sighing, the Colonel answered, "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Jackson glanced at his watch and said, "So, therefore, next check-in is in just under six hours."

"Good," Vala said nonchalantly, glancing at Teal'c she said, "Muscles, that means that we have time to go to the party." At that, she turned and started to walk off.

"No, it does not!" Mitchell barked at her, stopping her in her tracks. "It means we stay here out of sight and remain as inconspicuous as possible." As he spoke, Vala frowned bitterly, slowly moving back to the DHD, rolling her eyes as he finished chastising her. "With a bit of luck, the people on this planet will never even know we were here."

Just then a young couple appeared around a corner, kissing passionately. The two were extremely intent upon one another, moaning loudly as they embraced tightly.

Suddenly the woman pushed the man away, saying, "Don't tell Sylvana. She is like a sister to me."

The man answered ferverently, "Never."

They began kissing again. The man pressed himself against the woman, pinning her to the column. Both of them were very vocal, their moans echoing throughout the chamber.

The four around the DHD looked on in shock. After a moment, Vala glanced over at Daniel, her eyes regarding him mischeviously as her mind filled with memories of the intimate kiss they shared just minutes ago.

Daniel watched the couple in stunned silence. Suddenly he furrowed his brow, as if something had suddenly occurred to him. He glanced over at Vala hesitently and saw her regard him with a wanton gaze, licking her lips as he met her stare. Daniel blinked in surprise, peering at her wordlessly.

Cam and Teal'c each eyed at the couple on the far side of the room briefly, then looked at Daniel and Vala and watched as their friends shared their intimate gaze. The two men then glanced at each other wearily. Both rolled their eyes with exasperated expressions.

Suddenly the young couple pulled apart and turned to walk into the room, drawing all attention back to them as they did. The two would-be lovers froze in their tracks when they saw the members of SG1 standing behind the fake DHD. They stared at the heavily armed foursome with wide, fearful eyes.

"Hi," Cam said hesitantly, waving weakly. He continued with an awkward voice, adding, "There's nothing to be alarmed about. We...um..."

Suddenly the woman started to scream. Turning on her heel, she ran out of the room, the young man quickly following with a frightened backward glance back as he left.

The four around the gate moved immediately. Cam and Teal'c made their way around the DHD as Vala too stepped forward to chase after the young couple. Before she'd even gotten two feet, however, she yelped as Cam grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back, shoving her behind him. At the same time, Daniel stepped forward, catching Vala in his arms, looking on while Teal'c and Mitchell ran after the two interlopers. Vala tried again to follow, but Daniel held her tightly.

"How come they get to go?" she asked in exasperation, Daniel pursing his lips in frustration at her antics, holding her in place as she tried again to follow. They both watched as their friends disappeared out of the room, leaving the two alone once more.

Vala's frustration lasted for only an instant longer before she suddenly realized that she was again wrapped up in Daniel's arms. She blinked at this thought as a small grin began to play upon her lips. Slowly her head pivoted around to look up at him from her vantage point.

As soon as Vala stopped struggling, the archaeologist suddenly realized the same thing, blinking in surprise at the sequence of events that put her once more in his embrace. Her sable locks brushed his neck as she turned her head and then he could feel her eyes upon him. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly looked down at her, a sudden nervousness sweeping over him. A few stray strands of her hair tickled his face as her scent filled his nostrils. He wondered idly why he was still holding her in his arms.

Before he could ponder the question any further, their eyes met and the beautiful, raven-haired woman smiled from ear to ear. For some reason Daniel suddenly found the question quickly fleeting from his mind, along with much of the frusration he'd had just before. The faint light from their flashlights, pointing off into space at nothing in particular, cast heavy shadows across both of their faces. He could feel the warmth of her body pressed against his, he could feel the steady rhythm of her breathing which was suddenly quickening for some reason.

When she looked into his eyes, Vala saw him look back down at her with a hesitant, nervous gaze. She could feel his apprehension, but she also noticed he still held her close to him. She was glad for it, after sensing his irritation before.

As Daniel looked down at her, he felt more anxious than he had in years, swallowing hard as he saw her brilliant smile. In spite of the darkness, her eyes seemed to sparkle, captivating him. He tried to smile in return, but it was a feeble effort.

"Hi," he said nervously, suddenly feeling trapped even though it was he that held her.

"Hello," she breathed huskily, her smile growing even more, forcibly reminding Daniel of the Cheshire Cat.

Feeling even more awkward, Daniel started to release his grip on her. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say a word she suddenly reached up with her one hand, wrapped her arm about his neck and pulled his lips down to hers, kissing him passionately.

The archaeologist let out a muffled yelp of surprise as her tongue stole its way into his mouth, her soft lips firmly pressing against his. His eyes fell closed as he stood there dumbfounded for a moment, her sweet scent filling his nostrils and the sensual wetness of her kiss threatening to rob him of his reason. The tender caress of her fingers gliding through his hair helped to finish the job, and before he knew what was happening he had wrapped her up in his arms again, holding her tightly to him as he met her tongue with his.

Vala moaned into his mouth as she felt him kiss her back, smiling and sighing happily from the tips of her toes. She leaned back, resting her weight against him. Their lips rubbed together eagerly as she continued to play with his hair, tracing her fingernails over his skin. Daniel's arms tightened about her, pressing her even more firmly against him. Her smile within the kiss grew all the more as she felt his reaction to her nearness pressing against her bottom. She wiggled her hips, taking advantage of their positioning and was answered with a very satisfying moan from the archaeologist.

The motion of her body against his set Daniel's brain on fire, searing away what was left of his reason. He kissed her even more ferverently, his breath becoming heavy as he squeezed her to him. Vala moaned at this, breaking the kiss just long enough to turn about in his arms, immediately wrapping her arms about his neck and pulling his lips back to hers again, never giving him the chance to take a breath. She pressed her body to his, cursing their bulky vests which prevented them from getting as close as she desired.

Daniel almost regained his reason as she repositioned herself, but quickly lost the opportunity as her luscious lips again assaulted him, her tongue once more entwining with his. After a few more seconds of her sensual caresses, his arms embraced her tightly again, the fire consuming his brain once more.

Eager for more of him, Vala started to stroke his neck and cheeks, standing on her tippy-toes to get even closer still. Daniel sighed heavily against her lips at the tenderness of her touch, surprising himself even more as his hands spontaneously reached down to grasp her bottom, squeezing firmly. He shocked himself with his action, but he couldn't deny that he was pleased at the broad smile he felt upon her lips as they kissed.

The jolt served to restore Daniel's reason, however. Suddenly he broke the kiss and looked away, his breath coming in heavy gasps as he struggled to regain his senses. He felt drunk, and that frightened him. Vala stared up at him with a now worried expression, her breathing just as heavy. "What's wrong?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice. Her eyes searched his face, desperate for any sign of what he was thinking.

"Vala," he breathed but then hesitated, not sure what to say to her. He couldn't bring himself yet to look at her, his mind was still a turbulent mix of the passion she had evoked in him and the misgivings he had about what was happening between them. The seconds ticked by in silence as he wrestled with himself.

Seeing his uncertainty, she bit her lip as she began to feel very nervous and panicky now. "Daniel, please talk to me," she pleaded with an anxious, tense voice. Hearing her emotional question, Daniel finally turned his gaze back to her, looking into her eyes. He saw again the same fear and worry that he'd seen both last night and before he had kissed her in the first place. Suddenly, he remembered why he'd done it.

Sighing heavily, he reached up and caressed her cheek. To his dismay, his touch had the opposite reaction than he wanted, causing the fear to grow in her eyes. He knew if he didn't say something at once, it'd be too late.

"Vala," he said quickly, pausing only for a moment before he suddenly blurted out, "believe me, there's nothing I'd rather do than just keep kissing you and forget about the rest of the world." The smile that crossed her lips at his words still managed to dazzle him, as weak and nervous as it was. He looked in her eyes and could clearly see she knew he wasn't being completely sincere. Indeed, even as the words left his lips, they felt like a lie. But yet, they weren't, either. There was truth to what he said.

"But this isn't the time or the place," he continued with a gentle voice, his hand still stroking her cheek. The problem was, he was so confused right now that he didn't know what to think. As happy as Vala seemed to be at the prospect of what their kissing had eluded to, Daniel was nervous and frightened by the same possibilities. If they really were going to go down that road, he needed to have closure on a few things. He couldn't even believe he was thinking just that, he had never considered the possibility seriously before, yet here he was. Just the thought of what their kiss portended left him completely dumbfounded.

Vala watched at him keenly as he spoke, studying his face. She clenched her jaw in the silence following his words, reached up and took his hand away from her face, then gave him a stare that cut right through him. "You're not happy with any of this, are you?" she said bluntly, searching his eyes intently for his reaction.

Daniel pursed his lips at her question, sighing. Her eyes started to narrow as she thought she read his answer before he spoke. He decided to just be straight about it. "Vala, I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't nervous and scared about what just happened between us," she opened her mouth to say something and he could see the sharp comment soming as her eyes hardened. He kept talking, keeping her from getting in a word edgewise, "but at the same time, I kissed you first, didn't I?"

She hesitated, biting back her harsh words. He could tell that he caught her off guard, probably by anticipating what she'd been ready to throw at him. Looking deeply into her eyes, he said further in complete earnest, "If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing." She blinked in surprise at this, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "I'd still kiss you like I did." He smiled and added, "and I'd still enjoy it just as much."

Her azure eyes stared at him intently as the silence again settled between them. Finally she asked with a tense voice, "So where does that leave us, Daniel?" As hard as her expression was, he again saw a glimpse that same fear in her eyes, swirling about in complete confusion at his words.

"I don't know," he said plainly with a regretful voice. "I wish we could sit down and figure that out right now, but this couldn't be a worst time. I mean, any second, Cam and Teal'c are going to come back around that corner we're going to have to deal with a very sticky situation." Vala closed her eyes at his words and nodded sullenly. Suddenly the reality of where they were and what they were faced flooded their minds again.

She sighed, looking away as she reluctantly pulled away from him. Pursing his lips at her reaction, Daniel caught her hand in his as she stepped away. Vala looked over suddenly at his touch, watching him with a guarded expression. "Hey," he said, catching her gaze with his. "Just remember, I chose to kiss you..."

She stared at him with an unreadable expression, hesitating. He smiled warmly at her, squeezing her hand in his. A small smile crossed her lips and she squeezed back, saying with a quiet voice. "Come on, we should see what's taking them so long..."

Daniel nodded, and the two broke eye contact, starting to walk off together. Neither noticing the fact that they were still holding hands.

They walked down the corridor wordlessly, neither looking very happy. They reached about halfway down the hall when Daniel's head suddenly jerked up and he stopped in his tracks, pulling her to a stop with him.

"What's wrong? Vala asked, looking over at him.

"Did you just hear gun fire?" Daniel asked worriedly.

The raven haired woman furrowed her brow, opening her mouth to say no when suddenly her eyes opened wide. "Yes..." she said with panic in her voice as she suddenly heard a burst down the far length of the hallway.

The two let go of each other's hands and turned on their heels, gripping their P-90s and charging down the hallway at a full run.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel and Vala charged down the hallway, each feeling panicked and worried about what their friends were facing alone. Both felt intensely guilty with the sudden knowledge that Cam and Teal'c were in the middle of a fire-fight while they had been back at the Stargate, making out like a couple of teenagers.

As they ran, Daniel cursed himself for letting Vala entice him with their second kiss. In the back of his mind, he'd been worried that their friends might encounter trouble. Now he felt like a fool. In spite of the fact that he had kissed Vala in the first place, the circumstances of their second kiss had been decidedly different.

For her part, Vala felt simply miserable. Not only was she more nervous and uncertain than ever before about what Daniel thought of her or how he felt for her, but now she was worried that she had made matters worse by she kissing him as she had. A quick glance over to look at his face seemed to confirm her suspicions. He looked absolutely furious.

The two came running out of the hallway at full speed, their P-90s at the ready. Both were immediately relieved to see that not only were Cam and Teal'c alright, but the two of them had managed to get some kind of control over...something.

Daniel and Vala came to a sudden stop and looked around with disbelief to see a small crowd of people kneeling in the center of the large, expansive room while iron gates sealed every exit. The archaeologist asked with a panicked and confused voice, "What...the hell happened?!"

Glancing back at them for a brief moment, Mitchell answered sarcastically, "We had a little misunderstanding."

"Yeah, I can see that!" Daniel answered, looking about incredulously.

"Might have been easier to just pose as party guests," Vala deadpanned with a lifted eyebrow, her frustration at the way things ended between her and Daniel seeping through into her words.

Mitchell glanced back at her words, eyeing the two with an annoyed expression. "What the hell took you two so long?" he asked sharply.

"We, uhm," Daniel hesitated, flushing red at the question. Vala cleared her throat and looked away with an embarrassed expression, refusing to meet the Colonel's piercing stare. "We got held up," the archaeologist said weakly after failing to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"Uhuh," Cam said in annoyance, adding in an irritable voice, "Jackson, wipe the lipstick off your mouth." Teal'c glanced over at the two and glared at them, then resumed watching the hostages.

The archaeologist blushed even more at the Colonel's words and wiped his mouth with the cuff of his sleeve. Vala flushed to the tips of her ears, looking like she was ready to crawl under a rock. She chose to stay silent for once, continuing to avoid Mitchell's gaze.

Cam watched the two blushing teammates for a moment, then looked back at their captives. After surveying the hostages, he then explained, "They thought we were rebels."

Daniel raised his eyebrows at the Colonel's words, looking more worried than before. "What does that mean?" he asked with a tense voice.

"I don't know," Mitchell answered as he looked nervously around the room, trying to keep an eye on the various people they'd taken hostage. "I didn't get a chance to ask a lot of questions."

Vala looked about with a confused expression. She asked hesitantly, "Why are all the outer doors sealed off?"

Mitchell glanced back at her question. He paused, then looked over at a nearby display with shattered glass around it, gesturing towards it with his P-90 and saying, "One of their guys shot that case. He must have triggered a lock down." He paused for a moment before adding, "And for the moment, it would be good if it stayed that way."

Daniel sighed wearily, "Wonderful."

Cam looked back directly at Vala, saying, "See what you can do."

Nodding as she glanced about anxiously, she then looked back at the Colonel, meeting his stern gaze somewhat sheepishly. She still felt rather embarrassed, and she could still feel her cheeks and ears flushed red. Thankfully, the change in focus to their situation helped to alleviate the stress. "Okay," was her quick answer as she put her P-90 aside and started to walk back deeper into the large chamber, looking around for some sort of access panel.

Walking off, Vala suddenly heard a commotion behind her as one of the hostages spoke up. Slowing in her step, she glanced over her shoulder, concerned. She immediately saw that the boys had things under control, so she turned her attention away again and continued to wander through the room.

Her gaze quickly made its way to the back of the room where she caught a glimpse of what looked like an electrical box. Her pace quickened as she walked over to where it hung on the wall, removing her backpack as she drew near. With an expert eye she studied the layout of the conduits and the exterior of the box itself, depositing her backpack on the floor as she contemplated what to do.

Vala hesitated for a moment, looking over the exterior of the enclosure with a final cautious glance. She then reached out and quickly opened the front access panel. A quiet sigh escaped her as no obvious alarm or booby trap went off. While she really didn't expect any, given the apparent nature of the cabinet and the fact that this was a museum, she'd learned long ago that there could always be another surprise waiting around the corner.

With the panel open, she inspected the interior. As she had anticipated, it was a breaker box of some sort, arrayed with various switches. To her satisfaction, she also saw a small electronic control panel and what looked like a data port.

Bending down she opened her backpack, reached in and pulled out the tablet PC she carried with her. As she started to rifle through her bag for the cable she would need, her mind started to wander to the situation between her and Daniel. She really didn't want to think about that right now, but it was hard to forget about him while she kept hearing his voice off in the distance. She could hear the man speaking as he and Cam talked with the hostage that was addressing them. To her endless frustration, the sound of the archaeologist's voice kept evoking memories of the feel of his touch, the warmth of his body against hers, the taste of his lips on hers.

She gritted her teeth in frustration, trying very hard to push thoughts of him to the back of he mind, at the same time wondering why she was having such a hard time finding the cable in her backpack. It shouldn't be something so easily missed. While she hastily searched, her disbelief over the fact that he had kissed her in the first place washed over her anew. It was still astounding to her. What finally made him do that? Moreover, why did he seem to change his mind about everything five minutes later?

Sighing, her hand finally closed around what she was looking for and she stood up, trying to focus on her task. She lifted the tablet and set it down on the open panel door, using it like a small table. As she wired up the computer, her mind drifted again, this time remembering her disastrous attempt to apologize to him last night. The tension and discomfort from what she had said washed over her once more, making her cheeks flush a little. Why did she ever say so much to him? She still didn't know.

Again, she forced the matter from her mind as she tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She had just finished the delicate task of connecting the individual wires from the special adapter cable created by Sam to the alien data port. Standing up straight, she surveyed her work critically, wiggling her fingers. She wondered with a little bit of worry if powering up the PC would show her what she wanted to see or if throwing the switch would "let the magic smoke out".

Vala grinned as she remembered the first time she had heard Carter use the phrase, it was right after the blonde-haired woman had fried a particularly expensive gadget in her lab. While the raven-haired woman found the Tau'ri's word play annoying most of the time, that particular phrase had struck a chord.

Drawing in a deep breath, she pressed the power button on the computer and watched as it came to life, showing a schematic of the building. For the first time since Daniel ended their last kiss, a smile crossed Vala's lips. She immediately started to manipulate the computer, quickly navigating her way through the security program she found, looking for a way to keep things locked down.

A familiar, comfortable feeling started to settle over Vala as she went about the familiar task of wresting control away from another's effort to secure something. The feeling of accomplishment she got as she bent the system to her will helped to mute the bitter disappointment and emptiness she had felt since Daniel had pulled away from her.

It wasn't to last, however. In very little time at all, she had managed to gain complete control over the computer program that controlled the building's security. She was confident that no one from the outside would be able to open things up again, at least not without considerable effort. It wasn't surprising to her, though. Given that this was just a museum, she didn't expect to find any great challenge here.

With the job done and a void where her attention had been focused, her emotions came flooding in around her yet again, memories of Daniel's closeness and her feelings for him threatening to drown her. She drew in a deep breath and sighed heavily as she again felt the pain from the uncertainty he had left her with.

What made it worse was the awful, sickening feeling she had been carrying in the pit of her stomach since they realized that Cam and Teal'c had been in trouble while they were back at the Stargate, kissing so passionately. While she had so casually shrugged any embarrassment from being caught in their first kiss, she now felt incredibly guilty and worried about what the other two thought of her.

She was even more worried about what Daniel thought of her now.

Glancing back over, she saw him talking to the prisoner who had spoken up. She quietly observed the archaeologist from afar as he tried to tell the truth of their situation to the politician.

As she watched, Daniel's passion and earnestness while he spoke were readily apparent, even from this distance. She couldn't clearly hear him, but she saw how animated he became as he tried to convince the man that they really were from another planet. In spite of all her worries, a small grin flitted across her face as she considered the archaeologist thoughtfully. Very quickly the elderly statesman made it clear to Daniel that he didn't believe a word of it. Vala watched Daniel intently, her eyes full of adoration as she saw his crest-fallen disappointment at the other man's disbelief.

In spite of her pain, frustration, and embarrassment, she quickly found she was still so easily captivated by the archaeologist. In a way her attraction to him added to her disappointment, but at the same time helped to alleviated it, reminding her of why she still sought after him. She only hoped that someday her efforts would prove worth the pain and frustration.

Suddenly a stern, militant voice came up over the radio worn by one of the guards they'd captured. Daniel took the radio and answered, listening to the man's words.

Vala furrowed her brow at this and walked back over to rejoin the others, coming to stand beside Teal'c. The Jaffa glanced over at her arrival, nodding slightly at her, though she was too absorbed by Daniel's conversation on the radio to notice.

"Look," Daniel tried to explain to the man on the radio, "there's been a terrible misunderstanding. You see, we're not rebels."

The radio crackled as the man answered, "Then release the hostages."

Daniel let the radio drop a little and looked glanced over to Cam. " That's not a bad idea," he said, looking intrigued at the prospect.

Vala sighed inwardly at the archaeologist's naivete, regarding him fondly in spite of it. "It's a terrible idea," she said gently, shaking her head slightly.

At the sound of her voice, Daniel turned to face her, his expression the very portrait of irritation and annoyance. He slowly walked towards her, watching her with a hard gaze. "Why?" he demanded pointedly in a acrid voice, staring intently into her eyes. She could see he was still upset about what had happened.

In spite of what had passed between them before and how harshly he reacted to her now, Vala found to her own amazement that she considered him with only compassion and tenderness. She of course knew why. Seeing him try to handle this situation reminded her of why she felt so strongly for him, why she was so drawn to him.

In all her life, she had never met a man who viewed life with such idealism and hope. She knew Daniel firmly believed he could make these people believe the truth and he could smooth things over, if only he could get the chance. The man always looked for and expected the good in people.

Sadly, she knew all too well from her own life how far reality typically differed from what Daniel always wanted to see in it.

"It doesn't matter what we say to them," she explained slowly and patiently, looking back into his eyes with a tender, yet strong gaze. "They _think_ we're rebels. We shot a security guard. We took hostages." She paused to emphasize her words. As she spoke, Mitchell slowly came to stand with the other three, watching her thoughtfully."If we let those people go, they're gonna come in here and kill us.

"The lady's making a lot of sense," Mitchell added quietly, looking at Jackson with a dispassionate gaze.

The words only served to infuriate Daniel more. "This is not how you make first contact with people!" he said sharply at the Colonel, barking out the last words in a harsh whisper, his face turning a beet red.

"Not intentionally, no," Cam answered coolly, "But all we gotta do is stall for five-and-a-half hours 'til Landry dials in." He paused, adding, "Then we bolt, and those people can believe what they wanna believe."

"And no one gets hurt," Vala chimed in again, glancing over to Teal'c as she spoke.

The Jaffa stepped closer to the rest, nodding as he answered, "I too believe that to be the best course of action."

Vala nodded along with Teal'c, murmuring softly, "Uh hmm," turning back to watch Daniel with pleading eyes.

The archaeologist looked at all three of them bitterly, his eyes burning with frustration. "Okay, do you understand how dangerous this could be?" he asked in a more quiet voice, but one laced with tension and bitterness. Vala glanced at Teal'c again, then looked back at Daniel with a reserved expression. "This is an alien culture of which we have no knowledge," he continued, building momentum as he spoke. "We don't know how they're gonna handle a situation like this. We don't know whether they're gonna wait six hours. Once we start posing as kidnappers, there's no turning back. And if we get captured, we are hooped!!" He was nearly shouting at the last, but managed to keep his voice lowered, if only barely.

"Jackson!" Cam answered with a sharp whisper, then continuing with the cooler voice he used from before. "I hear what you're sayin'...but I don't think we have a choice. As far as I can see, these people are not gonna be open to the idea that we are peaceful aliens out on a jolly jaunt just to look around." The Colonel spoke harshly at the end as he tried to explain the reality of their situation.

Daniel closed his eyes at his, sighing heavily as he wrestled with the issue, his emotions written clearly across his face. Vala watched him tenderly, with a sympathetic eye. It was difficult for her to see him suffer through this. She appreciated his viewpoint and so admired his idealism, but knew it was completely unrealistic. As wonderful as his view of people and life would be if it were true, she knew all too well that it was actually rather foolhardy sometimes.

Finally, Daniel sighed. He then looked down and said into his radio, "I can't free them quite yet," looking pained at the words as they left his lips. Vala briefly smiled at his reaction, then glanced down. She drew in a deep breath, knowing that Daniel was right about the risks of this play.

The stern voice came again over the radio, "If this is some kind of mistake, I suggest you release them, now." Vala looked back up to quietly watch Daniel again.

Ignoring the man's words, Daniel answered, "Listen, one of your people has been seriously injured. I suggest you send in medical personnel to take him out of here."

The reply came over the radio, "You've sealed off the museum. How do you expect us to get in?"

Daniel looked at Vala expectantly. At first she met his gaze with confusion, knitting her eyebrows together. Then she realized that he expected her to now have some knowledge of the security system. "Oh, uhm..." she said as she got her wits together. In her head she quickly considered what she'd seen just minutes before.

"Probably best to bring them in through the southerly entrance," she said, looking over he shoulder, thumbing back to where she had accessed the museum's computers. "There's a door down a short corridor on the other side of the bars there. We can let them cut open a hole in the gate. It's a confined enough space that we should be able to keep things under control." Cam raised an eyebrow at her words, and she quickly added, "...relatively, anyway..."

Daniel listened quietly, watching her pensively as she spoke. He hesitated as she finished, his eyes still upon her. Vala looked from Cam to Daniel to find him looking at her. She furrowed her eyebrows in surprise as she looked back at him, perplexed by what he might be thinking.

A moment later, Daniel looked down and keyed up the radio again. "You can come in through the south entrance," he said, releasing the button.

"Three people only," Cam said to Daniel quietly.

The archaeologist quickly keyed up again, "only send three people," he quickly added.

Teal'c spoke up just as Daniel finished. "None should be allowed but medical personnel," he intoned in a low voice.

"And only medical people..." Daniel added hastily, starting to look aggravated. He paused before releasing the button, looking around at his teammates with an irritated, questioning gaze. The three shared amused glances, then shook their heads. Daniel released the button.

The radio was silent for a moment, but then came to life once more. "We would like to send two medical people with one trooper, to ensure their safety," came the stern voice.

At first Daniel looked ready to accept the proposal, but then hesitated. He looked up from the radio at his friends, lifting his eyebrows with an inquisitive expression. The three again shared amused looks, then started to nod together, looking back at the archaeologist.

Daniel smirked wryly at their reactions, regarding his friends with with an annoyed expression. Keying up the radio, he answered, "That's fine." He was about to release the button, when Cam gave him a look. "But no funny business!" he added unconvincingly. Vala and Teal'c shared pained expressions and Cam rolled his eyes.

The archaeologist unkeyed the radio and lowered it from his face, answering his friends' looks with a tense voice. "Well I'm sorry, but this is the first time I've taken hostages, okay?"

"Amateur," Vala teased him with a droll voice, a small smile playing upon her lips. Daniel looked at her with a mixture of indignancy and disbelief. Cam and Teal'c glanced over at the woman with flat expressions. She looked at Teal'c, winked, and looked back at Daniel, smiling all the more. Jackson rolled his eyes at her.

Suddenly the radio came to life once more. "Our people will be at the South entrance in ten minutes."

Daniel keyed up, answering, "We'll be waiting." He sighed and looked at his three friends with a faintly bitter gaze, then walked off, heading towards the hallway that Vala had indicated. The raven-haired woman watched him for a few moments, then walked off after him.

"Hey," Mitchell called after her. She paused mid-stride and looked back at him with a questioning expression. "No hanky panky," he told her with an irate voice. The raven-haired woman glared at him with a measure of hostility, then turned away and continued after Daniel.

The Colonel watched the two quietly for a moment, then said quietly to Teal'c. "We'll give 'em a few minutes." The Jaffa nodded wordlessly, and Mitchell added, "Meanwhile, you and I can figure out how we want to play this little release we're about to do." The two wordlessly watched Daniel and Vala from afar for a few more moments.

"Kinda lousy timing for them to finally start figuring things out, huh?" he asked wryly, glancing over at the Jaffa. Teal'c smiled slightly at Mitchell's words, meeting his gaze and nodding.

"Indeed," he answered, pausing for a moment before returning his gaze to the far corner where Daniel and Vala had walked off to. Then he and Cam turned their attention to the hostages and spoke in low tones about how they would handle the upcoming encounter with the forces outside.

Jackson had wandered to the far corner of the room, close to where Vala had deposited her bag and hooked up the computer. He was staring silently at one of the many museum displays, looking over it with crossed arms. His jaw was set firmly, his brow troubled.

Vala approached Daniel hesitantly, watching him with a worried expression as she wondered what she was ever going to say to him. She knew they only had a few minutes to talk, and she wondered what she could ever say to him or expect from him in so short a time. For that matter, she wasn't sure if he would even _want_ to talk to her right now.

"Daniel?" she said cautiously from a few steps away, almost freezing up as he looked back at her and met her eyes with his. He gave her a hard gaze, it looked like he was still angry over what had just happened. As to which part of it was bothering him, she could only guess and worry about. With everything that had happened, she was very nervous about what he was thinking right now.

She swallowed heavily, hesitating before continuing. "Look, I know you're upset that we wouldn't agree to release he hostages, it's just..."

He shook his head at her words, his expression softening. "Vala," he interrupted her with a sigh, "it's okay." Meeting her gaze, he paused, gathering his thoughts. With a weary expression he added, "You were right. As much as I hate to admit it, surrendering the hostages would have been suicide." He looked away, examining the exhibit again.

The raven-haired woman watched him silently for a moment, stepping closer to him. "I'm glad you see it that way, Daniel," she said quietly, hesitating before adding, "but you _are_ still upset about it, aren't you?"

The archaeologist glanced back at her words. He watched her wordlessly, then looked back at the display, which was filled with an array of artifacts from when the Goa'uld ruled the planet. "There was a world we visited not too long ago," he began, speaking while studying the various artifacts. "Our arrival breathed life into a minor religious sect that still believed the Goa'uld that had left them millenia ago were really gods. They took our arrival through the Stargate as a sign their gods were going to return. The sect grew and overthrew the government of one of the world's two superpowers, causing a world-scale war that left millions dead."

Vala blinked in surprise at his words, looking troubled at the tale. Daniel paused for a few moments, then continued, "Now these people think we're some sort of group of rebels. There's no way this is going to end well, Vala," he said with a weary voice. "From here on out, no matter what we do, we've probably screwed things up royally here. Never mind any hope we might have had for good relations with these people." He sighed heavily, looking bitter and disappointed.

"Daniel," she said in a tender voice, stepping closer again. "Things are a bit different here, these people don't seem to want to believe that we came from another planet. Nothing's certain yet, it probably won't be as bad as what happened before." Daniel hesitated at her words, then looked back to meet her gaze, listening intently as she spoke. She continued, "No one chose this, there was nothing anyone could have done to make this happen differently. It was just an unfortunate case of one bad circumstance after another. All we can do now is make the best of it and try to get home in one piece."

He continued looking into her eyes as she finished speaking, considering her words silently. She looked back at him steadfastly, her gaze warm and understanding. He then nodded, saying with a sigh, "I know," He smiled weakly at her, adding, "but that doesn't make it any easier for me." There was then silence as each seemed to run out of things to say.

The two watched each other wordlessly until Vala cleared her throat nervously, looking down for a moment. Daniel furrowed his brow, regarding her with a confused and curious expression. The raven-haired woman looked back up at him, watching him apprehensively as she started to say with a hesitant voice, "Daniel, I..." She stopped, apparently overwhelmed by what she was trying to tell him.

Daniel turned to face her, looking concerned at her demeanor. Vala became even more nervous, regarding him sheepishly and fidgeting a little. She looked down and hesitated, then suddenly blurted out the words in a rush. "I just wanted to apologize for back at the Stargate, it was completely inappropriate of me to kiss you when I did, given the circumstances, I..."

"Vala," Daniel said firmly and quietly, interrupting her as an incredulous expression came over his face at her words. Vala snapped her mouth shut as she heard him speak her name, looking up as he walked over to stand close to her. She stared at him with wide, fearful eyes. The archaeologist clenched his jaw at the sight of her emotional countenance, the memories of her apology from last night and the expression her face just before he kissed her in the first place rushing over him.

As he came to stand near her, Vala suddenly found her breath quickening. She felt terrified as she looked up into his gaze. Shaking his head, he said quietly, "Vala, please don't apologize for that." She furrowed her brow at his words, regarding him with a confused expression. He smiled warmly at her reaction, the first genuine smile she'd seen from him since he broke away from her kiss. She gave a weak, small smile in return, but her eyes were still filled with worry.

"I don't want you to apologize for kissing me," he repeated in a soft, gentle voice. "I could have stopped you earlier, but I didn't." Vala blinked in surprise at his point, looking slightly more relaxed as she considered his words. "I chose to kiss you back..."

After a pause, she sighed and replied, "That's sweet of you to say, Daniel, but Cam and Teal'c could have been hurt or worse while we were..." she paused and closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath and then correcting herself, "while **_I_** was..." Her voice trailed off, she found she was unable to finish what she was trying to say.

The archaeologist pursed his lips at her words, reached up and touched her cheek. Her eyes flew open at his touch and she found herself looking into his eyes again. "Vala, if one of us was bein irresponsible for that second kiss, then we _**both**_ were. There's no way it was just your fault alone." She looked like she was considering his point a little. He grinned, adding, "I mean, I seem to recall kissing back...pretty fervently, too." She couldn't help but smile at this, looking down at his words.

"The simple fact is," he said, "neither Cam nor Teal'c were hurt, and for the moment, everything is under control." Vala looked back up at him, continuing to listen. He could see her continuing struggle with her guilt written clearly on her face. "Please, don't feel bad about what happened, okay?" She pursed her lips and sighed in frustration, looking away as she continued to wrestle with her feelings.

Daniel grinned wryly, adding with a playful voice, "what, do I need to remind you _again_ that I kissed you in the first place?"

Vala looked up at him, blushing slightly. She paused as she looked deeply into his eyes, then smirked at his words. After a few moments, she answered "Oh, I remember that quite well, Daniel." She paused, then added mischievously, "and don't you think I'm ever going to let you forget that fact..."

Daniel smiled widely at her reaction, looking back into her eyes with a warm gaze. The return smile that blossomed upon Vala's lips dazzled the archaeologist. The two stared at each other silently, time seeming to slow to a standstill.

"Hey," came Mitchell's voice, suddenly breaking the spell. The two looked over to see the Colonel standing a few feet away. "Let's go. It's showtime."


End file.
